Willow House, Hinchingbrooke Hospital

Willow House, Hinchingbrooke Hospital

Sustainable modular staff accommodation supporting the next chapter of NHS redevelopment.

Willow House is a new modular staff accommodation development at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, Huntingdon, delivered by ZED PODS for North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust. The scheme forms part of the wider Hinchingbrooke Hospital Redevelopment Programme, funded through the New Hospital Programme, and supports the Trust’s long-term ambition to deliver a modern, fully electric and digitally enabled hospital while maintaining safe and effective patient care throughout construction.

Project Information

Client: North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust

Location: Hinchingbrooke Hospital, Huntingdon PE29 6NT

Building Solution: Permanent

Scope of works: Full Turnkey Service (RIBA Stage 0 – 7)

Status: Under Construction

Project Team

Existing Site

The project is located on the former Old Nursery site at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, Huntingdon PE29 6NT. The site sits at the front of the hospital campus, positioned between two car parks and close to the main staff parking area. The former two-storey nursery building had previously been used for storage before being demolished to make way for the new staff accommodation.

Project Brief

Providing high-quality staff accommodation at the front of the hospital site

The brief was to re-provide high-quality staff accommodation at the front of the hospital site, enabling the phased demolition of older staff accommodation blocks elsewhere on the campus and unlocking land required for the new hospital development. The replacement accommodation is critical to ensuring there is no disruption in the availability of accommodation for staff who require it during the wider redevelopment programme.

Full Turnkey
Solution

This project is executed through a full turnkey Design & Build process, encompassing all stages of design according to RIBA standards, planning application, offsite manufacturing, module delivery, onsite groundworks and construction and handover.

The proposal provides 52 dwellings across two blocks, creating a total of 85 bed spaces. Block B is a completely new-build modular block, consisting of 32 x 2-bed 2-person dwellings. Block A provides 20 dwellings in total, consisting of 9 x 1-bed 1-person dwellings, including 5 Part M4(3) wheelchair-accessible homes, 1 x 2-bed 2-person dwelling, and the relocated Key Worker Accommodation, comprising 10 x 1-bed 1-person apartments on the top two levels of Block A.

The project also prioritised comfort, accessibility, wellbeing and sustainability. Level access is designed throughout the development to support wheelchair access, with particular consideration given to the Part M4(3) dwellings. The scheme also proposes 7 parking spaces, including 5 disabled parking spaces serving the accessible homes.

This is a major milestone in our redevelopment journey and marks an important step for the New Hospital Programme. We are very excited to be working with local supplier, ZED PODS Ltd to create sustainable and homely environments for our staff to stay in. In turn, this will enable the demolition of our existing staff accommodation blocks at the back of our hospital site and create the space we need for our new hospital.

Deborah Lee

Senior Responsible Officer

Hinchingbrooke Redevelopment

Designed to move. Built to last.

Demounted and Reinstalled Building regulations and warranty approved modules.

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Willow House demonstrates the long-term value of ZED PODS’ relocatable modular housing system.

The project includes the relocation and reuse of the existing Key Worker Accommodation building, originally completed by ZED PODS for North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust in 2020. After six years in use, the building remains in excellent condition, providing clear evidence of the durability, build quality and resilience of ZED PODS’ modular construction.

As part of the New Hospital Programme, Hinchingbrooke Hospital is being redeveloped. Traditional build homes would have had to be demolished, representing a significant financial cost to building 6 years into the 100+ year life. Instead, ZED PODs were able to demonstrate the required skills, expertise and design quality so that the modules could be moved, incorporated into a new 4 storey building and would comply with current building regulations, fire safety regulations and new build warranty.

As such, as part of the new Willow House development, the 10 existing apartments are being carefully demounted, relocated and integrated into the top two floors of Block A, forming part of a larger 52-dwelling, 85-bed staff accommodation scheme.

By giving an existing low-carbon modular building a second life, Willow House shows how ZED PODS homes can adapt to changing estate needs, reduce waste and extend long-term asset value. It is a practical example of modular housing designed not only for rapid delivery, but for reuse, relocation and long-term performance.